KR102049707B1 - Accessory device which transitions between an autonomous mode and a companion device relay mode for cellular communication - Google Patents

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a first mode in which a first wireless communication device of an accessory device is configured to perform cellular communication with a base station, or a second wireless communication device of an accessory device is configured to perform short-range communication with a companion device and the companion device. An accessory device capable of operating in a second mode configured to provide cellular communication via a companion device to a base station using a cellular function of the apparatus. The accessory device is optional between the first mode and the second mode based on one or more factors such as signal strength of short-range communication between the accessory device and the companion device, relative battery level of the two devices, and / or communication status of the companion device. To switch to.

Description

ACCESSORY DEVICE WHICH TRANSITIONS BETWEEN AN AUTONOMOUS MODE AND A COMPANION DEVICE RELAY MODE FOR CELLULAR COMMUNICATION} To Switch Between Autonomous and Companion Device Relay Modes for Cellular Communication

The present application is directed to wireless communication comprising enabling an accessory device such as a smart watch to optionally provide direct cellular communication or use a companion wireless device as a proxy for cellular communication.

Wireless communication systems are rapidly increasing in use. In addition, wireless communication technologies have evolved to include the transmission of data, such as the Internet and multimedia content, from voice-only communications.

Mobile electronic devices can take the form of smartphones or tablets, which are often carried or held by users. Wearable devices such as smart watches are a newer type of mobile electronic device. Such devices and other devices may be referred to as accessory devices. In the past, the wireless communication capability of a wearable device was generally limited; For example, some wearable devices can communicate only via a wired interface or short range point-to-point technology. Wearable devices also typically use a smaller battery than larger portable devices such as smartphones and tablets.

The wearable device would preferably provide similar communication capabilities as a large device such as a smart phone. Therefore, improvement in the field is desirable. US 2008/113689 A1, US 2014/106677 A1 and "Samsung Gear S User Manual" (12 December 2014) disclose wireless communication between an accessory device and a main device in accordance with the features of the preamble of the independent claim.

Among other things, embodiments of an accessory device, such as a smart watch, and related methods for allowing the accessory device to selectively use the companion device as a proxy for cellular communication, such as packet based cellular communication, are described herein. The accessory device is a relay mode in which the accessory device can use the cellular capabilities of the companion device to relay communications between the accessory device and the cellular base station, and the accessory device transmits cellular voice / data without the relay device communicating with the companion device. You can switch between operating in an autonomous mode that can communicate directly with the. In some embodiments, the accessory device can use one or more of various measurements and / or conditions to determine whether or when to switch between the relay mode and the autonomous mode. The accessory device can switch between the relay mode and the autonomous mode during the active voice call, or otherwise change modes when the call is not in progress.

The subject matter of the present invention is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this specification. Accordingly, it will be understood that the features described above are merely examples and should not be construed in any way limiting the scope or technical spirit of the subject matter described herein. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description, drawings, and claims.

A better understanding of the subject matter of the present invention can be obtained when the following detailed description of the embodiments is considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.
1 illustrates an example wireless communication system including an accessory device, in accordance with some embodiments.
2 illustrates an example system in which an accessory device can optionally communicate directly with a cellular base station or use the cellular capabilities of an intermediate or proxy device such as a smartphone.
3 is a block diagram illustrating an example accessory device, in accordance with some embodiments.
4 is a flowchart illustrating an example operation in which an accessory device can switch between autonomous and relay modes when an active call is not in progress, in accordance with some embodiments.
5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example operation by which an accessory device can switch between autonomous and relay modes during an active call, in accordance with some embodiments.
6 is a flow diagram illustrating a method by which a companion device can notify cell accessory information of an accessory device, in accordance with some embodiments.
While various modifications and alternative forms of the features described herein are permitted, certain embodiments of the invention are shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail herein. However, the drawings and detailed description thereof are not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, and on the contrary, all modifications, equivalents, and modifications falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims and It should be understood with the intention to cover alternatives.
The term “configured to” is used herein to encompass a structure by suggesting that units / circuits / components include a structure (eg, a circuit portion) that performs a task or tasks in operation. As such, a unit / circuit / component may be referred to as being configured to perform a task even if the specified unit / circuit / component is not currently operating (eg, not turned on). Units / circuits / components used in conjunction with the phrase “configured to” include hardware—such as circuits, memory that stores program instructions executable to implement the operation, and the like. Reference to that a unit / circuit / component is “configured to” perform one or more tasks is a manifestation of the intent that the interpretation of the provisions of US Pat.

Terms

The following is an explanation of the terms used in the present invention:

Memory medium —any of various types of non-transitory memory devices or storage devices. The term "memory medium" refers to an installation medium such as a CD-ROM, floppy disk, or tape device; Computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, and the like; Nonvolatile memory such as flash, magnetic media such as hard drives, or optical storage; Registers, or other similar types of memory elements, and the like. The memory medium may also include other types of non-transitory memory or combinations thereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in a first computer system on which programs are executed or in a different second computer system that connects to the first computer system via a network, such as the Internet. In the latter case, the second computer system may provide program instructions to the first computer for execution. The term “memory medium” may include two or more memory media that may exist in different locations, eg, different computer systems connected via a network. The memory medium may store program instructions (eg, may be implemented as computer programs) that may be executed by one or more processors.

Carrier medium —A memory medium as described above, as well as a physical transmission medium such as a bus, a network, and / or other physical transmission medium that carries signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals.

Programmable Hardware Elements -Including various hardware devices including a plurality of programmable functional blocks connected via a programmable interconnect. Examples include FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), FPOAs (Field Programmable Object Arrays), and CPLDs (Complex PLDs). ; Complex PLDs). Programmable functional blocks can range from fine grained (combination logic or lookup tables) to coarse grained (arithmetic logic units or processor cores). Programmable hardware elements may also be referred to as "reconfigurable logic".

Computer systems -personal computer systems (PCs), mainframe computer systems, workstations, network appliances, Internet appliances, personal digital assistants (PDAs), television systems Any of various types of computing or processing systems, including grid computing systems, or other devices or combinations of devices. In general, the term “computer system” may be broadly defined to include any device (or combination of devices) having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memory medium.

User Equipment (UE) (or “UE Device”) — any of various types of computer system devices that are mobile or portable and perform wireless communication. Examples of UE devices include mobile phones or smart phones (eg, iPhone ™, Android ™ based phones), portable gaming devices (eg, Nintendo DS ™, PlayStation Portable ™). , Gameboy Advance ™, iPhone ™, laptops, wearable devices (eg, smart watches, smart glasses), PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, or other hands Handheld devices and the like. In general, the term “UE” or “UE device” may be broadly defined to include any electronic, computing, and / or communication device (or combination of devices) that is easily moved by a user and capable of wireless communication.

Base station -The term "base station" (also referred to as "eNB") encompasses the full range of its general meaning and includes at least a wireless communication station installed in a fixed location and used for communication as part of a wireless cellular communication system.

Processing Element - Refers to various elements or combinations of elements. For example, processing elements may include circuits such as ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), portions or circuits of individual processor cores, total processor cores, individual processors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and the like. Programmable hardware devices, and / or larger portions of systems including multiple processors.

Automatically -performed by a computer system (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g., circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.) without user input that directly specifies or performs an operation or operation Refers to an operation or action. Thus, the term “automatically” is in contrast to an action that is manually performed or specified by the user, which provides input for the user to directly perform the action. Automated procedures may be initiated by input provided by the user, but subsequent operations that are performed "automatically" are not specified by the user, that is, are not performed "manually" which specify each operation to be performed by the user. . For example, fill out an electronic form by providing an input for the user to select each field (eg, by typing information, selecting check boxes, selecting radio, etc.) and specifying the information. One thing to do is to fill out the form manually, even if the computer system needs to update the form in response to user actions. The form may be automatically filled in by a computer system (eg, software running on the computer system) that analyzes the fields of the form and fills in the form without any user input specifying a response to the fields. As indicated above, the user can invoke automatic filling of the form, but is not involved in the actual filling of the form (eg, rather than having the user manually specify the responses to the fields, they are automatically completed). will be). This disclosure provides various examples of actions that are automatically performed in response to actions taken by a user.

1-Wireless Communication System

1 illustrates an example of a wireless cellular communication system. It is noted that FIG. 1 represents one of a number of possibilities, and that the features of the present disclosure may be implemented within any of a variety of systems, if desired.

As shown, an example wireless communication system includes a cellular base station 102A in communication with an accessory device 107 via a transmission medium, as well as one or more wireless devices 106A, 106B, and the like. The wireless devices 106A, 106B, 107 may be user devices and may be referred to herein as "user equipment" (UE) or UE devices.

Base station 102 may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or cell site and may include hardware to enable wireless communication with UE devices 106A, 106B, 107. Base station 102 may also be equipped to communicate with network 100 (eg, a cellular service provider's core network, a communications network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN), and / or the Internet, among other possibilities). Thus, base station 102 may facilitate communication between UE devices 106 and 107 and / or between UE devices 106/107 and network 100. In another implementation, the base station 102 supports one or more WLAN protocols, such as 802.11a, b, g, n, ac, ad, and / or ax, or LTE in an unlicensed band (LAA). It may be configured to provide communication via one or more other wireless technologies, such as an access point.

The communication area (or coverage area) of the base station 102 may be referred to as a "cell." Base station 102 and UEs 106/107 are GSM, UMTS (WCDMA, TDS-CDMA), LTE, LTE-A (LTE-Advanced), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and the like, and may be configured to communicate via a transmission medium using any of a variety of radio access technologies (RAT) or wireless communication technologies. One example of LTE or LTE-A communication may be Voice over LTE (VOLTE).

Thus, base station 102 and other similar base stations (not shown) operating in accordance with one or more cellular communication technologies can be provided as a network of cells, which can be used to provide UE coverage over a wide geographic area via one or more cellular communication technologies. It may provide a continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to devices 106A-N, 107 and similar devices.

In some cases, it is noted that at least the UE device 106/107 may communicate using any of a plurality of wireless communication technologies. For example, the UE device 106/107 may be GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, LTE, LTE-A, WSAN (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, WiMAX, one or more global navigational satellite system (GNSS) (eg, GPS or GLONASS). ), One or more mobile television broadcast standards (eg, ATSC-M / H), and the like. Other combinations of wireless communication technologies (including three or more wireless communication technologies) are also possible. Similarly, in some cases, UE device 106/107 may be configured to communicate using only a single wireless communication technology.

The UEs 106A, 106B are typically a handheld device, such as a smart phone or tablet, but can be any of a variety of types of devices having communication capabilities, such as cellular communication capabilities. UE 106B may be configured to communicate with UE device 107, which may be referred to as accessory device 107. Accessory device 107 may be a wearable device with any of a variety of types of devices, typically smaller form factors, and may have limited battery, output power, and / or communication capabilities for UE 106. . As one common example, UE 106B may be a smart phone carried by a user, and accessory device 107 may be a smart watch worn by the same user, or possibly a different user. Thus, as another example, in the operations described herein, the UE 106B can be a smart phone carried by a first user and the accessory device 107 can be a smart watch worn by a second different user. have. The UE 106B and accessory device 107 can communicate using any of a variety of short range communication protocols, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and the like.

Accessory device 107 includes a communication capability, for example a cellular communication capability, and thus can communicate directly with cellular base station 102. However, since accessory device 107 is possibly limited to one or more of its communication capability, output power, and / or battery, accessory device 107 may in some cases be associated with base station 102 and thus network ( UE 106B may optionally be used as a proxy for communication purposes to 100). In other words, the accessory device 107 can optionally use the cellular communication capabilities of the UE 106B to perform its cellular communication. Restrictions on the communication capability of accessory device 107 may be permanent, for example, due to limitations in output power or supported radio access technology (RAT), for example, current battery status, inaccessibility to the network, Or due to conditions such as poor reception.

2-Example system with accessory device

2 shows an example accessory device 107 in communication with a base station 102. Accessory device 107 may be a wearable device, such as a smart watch. The accessory device 107 can include cellular communication capabilities and can communicate directly with the base station 102 as shown. When accessory device 107 is configured to communicate directly with a base station, the accessory device may be referred to as an “autonomous mode”.

The accessory device 107 can also communicate with another device (eg, UE 106), referred to as a proxy device or an intermediate device, using a short range communication protocol, which then communicates the cellular functionality of the proxy device with the base station 102. It can be used to communicate cellular voice / data. In other words, accessory device 107 may provide a voice / data packet intended for base station 102 to UE 106 over a short-range link, which UE 106 may use its cellular functionality to provide this voice. / Data can be transmitted (or relayed) to the base station on behalf of the accessory device 107. Similarly, voice / data packets transmitted by the base station and intended for the accessory device 107 may be received by the cellular function of the UE 106 and then relayed to the accessory device over a short range link. As noted above, the UE 106 can be a mobile phone, tablet, or any other type of handheld device, media player, computer, laptop, or virtually any type of wireless device. When accessory device 107 is configured to communicate with a base station indirectly using the cellular function of an intermediate or proxy device, the accessory device may be referred to as being in a "relay mode."

Various embodiments herein optionally use their own cellular function (autonomous mode) to communicate with a base station or for communication, for example LTE or VoLTE's cellular function ( The accessory device 107 using the relay mode) is described. However, embodiments described herein allow accessory device 107 to optionally communicate with a Wi-Fi access point using its own Wi-Fi function (autonomous mode), or Wi-Fi communication It may also be used with other radio access technologies (RATs) such as to enable the Wi-Fi function (relay mode) of the UE 106 for this purpose.

The accessory device 107 can include a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in memory. The accessory device 107 can perform any of the method embodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or additionally, accessory device 107 may be configured to include any method embodiment of any of the method embodiments described herein, or any portion of any method embodiment of the method embodiments described herein. It may include programmable hardware elements, such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), integrated circuits (ICs), or other circuitry configured to perform.

The accessory device 107 can include one or more antennas for communicating using two or more wireless communication protocols or radio access technologies. In some embodiments, the UE device 106 can be configured to communicate using a single shared radio. The shared radio may be coupled to a single antenna or may be coupled to multiple antennas (eg, for MIMO) to perform wireless communication. Alternatively, UE device 106 may include two or more radios. For example, the UE 106 may include a shared radio for communicating using LTE (or LTE-Advanced) or Bluetooth, and a separate radio for communicating using LTE-Advanced and Bluetooth, respectively. Can be. Other configurations are also possible.

The accessory device 107 may, in some embodiments, be any of various types of devices having a smaller form factor compared to conventional smartphones, and have limited communication capability, limited output power compared to conventional smartphones. Or one or more of a limited battery life. As noted above, in some embodiments, accessory device 107 is a smart watch or other type of wearable device. As another example, the accessory device 107 is not currently near a WiFi hotspot and therefore has a tablet device, such as an iPad, that has WiFi capabilities (and possibly limited or no cellular communication capabilities) that are currently unable to communicate with the Internet via WiFi. Can be. Thus, the term "accessory device" has limited or reduced communication capability in some cases, allowing for selective and opportunistic use of UE 106 as a proxy for communication purposes for one or more applications and / or RATs. Refers to any of a variety of types of devices. If the UE 106 can be used as a proxy by the accessory device 107, the UE 106 can be referred to as a companion device for the accessory device 107.

3-Example block diagram of an accessory device

3 shows one possible block diagram of accessory device 107. As shown, the UE 107 may include a system on chip (SOC) 300 that may include portions for various purposes. For example, as shown, SOC 300 may perform processor (s) 302 capable of executing program instructions for UE 106, and perform graphics processing and provide display signals to display 360. Display circuitry 304, which may be included. Processor (s) 302 also receives addresses from processor (s) 302 and stores those addresses in memory (eg, memory 306, read-only memory (ROM) 350, flash memory 310). It can be combined with a memory management unit (MMU) 340 that can be configured to translate to locations. The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, MMU 340 may be included as part of processor (s) 302.

Accessory device 107 may also include other circuits or devices, such as display circuitry 304, wireless communication device 330, connector I / F 320, and / or display 360.

In the illustrated embodiment, ROM 350 may include a boot loader, which may be executed by processor (s) 302 during boot or initialization. As also shown, SOC 300 may be coupled with various other circuits of accessory device 107. For example, accessory device 107 may include various types of memory, connector interface 320 (eg, for coupling with a computer system), display 360, and (eg, LTE, CDMA2000, Bluetooth, WiFi, NFC, Wireless communication circuitry) for communication using GPS or the like.

Accessory device 107 includes at least one antenna, and in some embodiments may include multiple antennas to perform wireless communication with base stations and / or other devices. For example, accessory device 107 can use antenna 335 to perform wireless communication. As mentioned above, in some embodiments the UE may be configured to communicate wirelessly using a plurality of wireless communication standards or radio access technologies (RATs).

As described herein, accessory device 107 may include hardware and software components for implementing the method in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The processor 302 of the accessory device 107 may be configured to implement some or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (eg, non-transitory computer readable memory medium). Can be. In other embodiments, the processor 302 may be comprised of programmable hardware elements such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

Note that the UEs 106A, 106B shown in FIG. 1 may have a similar architecture as described above.

4 and 5-switching between relay and autonomous states

4 and 5 are flowcharts illustrating an example method by which accessory device 107 can switch between operating in autonomous mode and operating in relay mode for wireless communication (eg, LTE or VoLTE communication). to be. As described above, while operating in relay mode, accessory device 107 may use a companion device, UE 106, which may be a smartphone, to relay communication between accessory device 107 and base station 102. have. Companion device 106 (ie, relay device or proxy device) may function as a proxy or an intermediary to communicate communications between accessory device and base station 102. Conversely, in autonomous mode, accessory device 107 may communicate directly with base station 102 using a wireless link (cellular link) between the accessory device and the base station. The accessory device 107 can here communicate independently (ie autonomously) with a cellular base station that is very similar to a cell phone without using a companion device to communicate with the base station.

The accessory device 107 can optionally operate in or switch between autonomous mode or relay mode, during an active voice call or when no voice call is in progress. 4 illustrates switching between two communication modes when no active voice call occurs (or no active data communication occurs). 5 illustrates switching between two communication modes during an active voice call.

Figure 4-Switching between a relay state and an autonomous state without an active voice call

As shown in FIG. 4, at 402, accessory device 107 is currently operating in relay mode, which means that accessory device 107 is packet-based, such as a proxy or relay wireless communication with a base station, eg, LTE communication. Companion devices can be used for communication. The accessory device 107 can use the companion device for other types of communication as well as such as SMS. In some embodiments, the accessory device can be wirelessly connected to the companion device using Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) or Apple Wireless Direct Link (AWDL) technologies. The accessory device 107 may not currently operate a cellular communication protocol stack, eg, an LTE stack, because it is not currently using its cellular communication circuitry to communicate directly with the base station. For example, an LTE stack may be considered inactive or "off". Here, the accessory device may not be involved in an active voice call. As mentioned above, methods or scenarios in which the accessory device can operate an ongoing voice call are described below with respect to FIG. 5.

While operating in the relay mode at 402, under certain conditions the accessory device 107 may switch to operate in the autonomous mode 422. The accessory device 107 is one or more to determine whether to switch from the relay mode 402 to the autonomous mode 422, that is, whether to stop using the companion device 106 to communicate with the base station 102. Various information items are available. Block 404 represents an example condition that may be used to determine whether accessory device 107 should switch from relay mode 402 to autonomous mode 422. As shown at 404, these items of information may include the signal strength of the link between accessory device 107 and companion device 106, the power or battery status of companion device 106 and / or accessory device 107, companion device. The link between 106 and base station 102, or data regarding one or more of whether companion device 106 currently supports voice or SMS communication.

In some embodiments, the information about the signal strength of the link between accessory device 107 and companion device 106 may affect or determine whether accessory device 107 wants to switch to autonomous mode. For example, if the signal strength of the link between the accessory device and the companion device is low (or low) as determined by various measurements, or if all of the links fail (that is, the accessory device can no longer communicate with the companion device). None), the accessory device can then decide to switch to autonomous mode. In some scenarios, the companion device 106 may not be able to approach the accessory device 107 or the link between the two devices may be interrupted, or otherwise the signal strength or quality of the link is considered low or insufficient. Can be.

The power state of companion device 106 may also influence the decision to switch from relay mode to autonomous mode. For example, if companion device 106 is operating in a low battery state, for example, if the battery of companion device 106 falls below a threshold, then accessory device 107 may be connected with respect to its battery state. Signal, and the accessory device can respond by switching to autonomous mode. This can avoid overly burdening the companion device 106 when operating on a low battery, and also prevents the companion device 106 from interfering with ongoing communications, which must stop relaying communications due to power constraints. Can be avoided.

In other scenarios, if the companion device 106 is switched to “airplane mode” or otherwise the cellular capability of the companion device 106 is lost or disabled, the accessory device 107 is consequently in the autonomous mode in the relay mode. May be caused to switch to In some embodiments, if the user provides input to switch companion device 106 to airplane mode or otherwise provides input to disable cellular communication, companion device 106 is companion device 106. ) May provide a signal to accessory device 107 indicating that it intends to deactivate cellular capability, and in response, accessory device 107 may switch from relay mode to autonomous mode. In addition to or instead of the foregoing, other conditions or criteria may also be used to determine when or if accessory device 107 transitions from relay mode to autonomous mode.

If the conditions at 404 that the accessory device should transition from relay mode 402 to autonomous mode 422 are satisfied, then the accessory device can then perform steps 406, 408, and 410.

At 406, accessory device 107 may enable execution of its LTE stack, obtain service with a base station, and register on the LTE network. In acquiring a service with a base station, the accessory device 107 may receive current cell coverage information (also referred to as base station information) previously received from the companion device 106, as further discussed below with respect to FIG. 6. Can be used. This cell coverage information can allow accessory device 107 to more efficiently obtain the best possible cell.

At 408, accessory device 107 may perform IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) registration. This may include an accessory device 107 that registers with an IMS server to receive multimedia data or similar data services, such as video conferencing calls (eg, Apple FaceTime).

At 410, accessory device 107 can disconnect from companion device 106. Thus, at 410, accessory device 107 can suspend communication with companion device 106 using its short-range communication circuitry, such as Bluetooth circuitry. After accessory device 107 performs 406, 408, and 410, the accessory device has switched to autonomous mode 422, where its LTE stack is on or running, and the device is registered on LTE and for IMS It is registered. In addition, there may still be no active negative calls.

While operating in autonomous mode at 422, under certain conditions, accessory device 107 may switch to operate in relay mode 402. The accessory device 107 switches the companion device 106 as a proxy or intermediary to switch from autonomous mode 422 to relay mode 402, i.e., to stop direct communication with the base station and to communicate with the base station 102. One or more various items of information can be used to determine whether to start using.

Block 418 represents an example item of information that may be used to determine whether accessory device 107 should switch from autonomous mode 422 to relay mode 402. The information items may include the signal strength of the link between the accessory device and the companion device, the power or battery status of the companion device and / or accessory device, the link between the companion device and the base station, or whether the companion device currently supports voice or SMS communication. It may include data relating to one or more.

In some embodiments, the signal strength or quality of the link between companion device 106 and accessory device 107 can determine or affect whether the accessory device switches to relay mode. For example, if one or more measurements or conditions relating to a link between two devices indicate that the link is of sufficient strength or quality, for example, by comparison with one or more threshold values, then accessory device 107 may be companion. Operate to switch to relay mode 402 to leverage the link with device 106.

In addition, information about the current capability of the companion device 106 to perform a specific cellular communication may include that the accessory device 107 operates in a relay mode, i.e., relays the companion device to relay communication with the base station 102. It can also be used to determine whether to switch to using. For example, if companion device 106 does not currently support cellular communications, such as voice and SMS communications, for example because it is not registered with the base station or because its cellular functionality is turned off or disabled. The accessory device can then decide not to switch to the relay mode. In some embodiments, companion device 106 may signal accessory device 107 with respect to its communication capabilities and / or registration status. The accessory device 107 is in a relay mode when the companion device 106 currently supports a certain level of cellular connectivity, for example, when the companion device is registered with the base station to perform cellular communication such as IMS communication. You can decide to switch.

In some embodiments, accessory device 107 can use the information about the battery status of companion device 106 when determining whether to switch to relay mode. In some embodiments, if the companion device 106 is determined to have a low battery according to various factors, then the accessory device cannot use the companion device to relay the communication. In contrast, the accessory device may switch to relay mode if it determines that the companion device has battery power suitable to function as a proxy between the accessory device and the base station and to relay communications.

Any combination of the above factors as well as other conditions or factors may be used to determine whether accessory device 107 should switch from autonomous mode 422 to relay mode 402. For example, information regarding the battery status of the accessory device may also be used. In some scenarios, the accessory device may want to switch to relay mode when its battery level is low since operating in relay mode may reduce the burden of device resources.

For example, if the accessory device 107 determines or switches from the autonomous mode 422 to the relay mode 402 because the conditions at 418 have been met, then the accessory device can then proceed to steps 412, 414,. 416).

At 412, accessory device 107 can establish a connection to companion device 106. In some embodiments, accessory device 107 may establish a wireless link to companion device 106 using Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) or Apple Wireless Direct Link (AWDL) technologies.

At 414, accessory device 107 may be operative to cancel or disable registration with base station 102 for IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) communication. At 416, the accessory device can deactivate its communication protocol stack, such as its LTE stack. Thus, when switching to relay mode, accessory device 107 may selectively disable some of its cellular communication functionality, because in relay mode the accessory device may use companion device 106 to perform cellular communication. ) Can be used.

After the accessory device 107 performs 412, 414, and 416, the accessory device can be switched to the relay mode 402 and connected to the companion device 106, which can perform cellular communication with the base station 102. Can act as a proxy for As described above in connection with 402 and 404, the accessory device may remain in relay mode for a period of time or otherwise transition from relay mode to autonomous mode according to one or more conditions. The accessory device may still not be involved in the voice call; Methods or scenarios in which the accessory device can operate an ongoing voice call are described below with respect to FIG. 5.

Figure 5-Switching between relayed and autonomous states during an active call

5 is a flowchart illustrating an example method by which accessory device 107 can switch between operating in autonomous mode and operating in relay mode during an ongoing voice call.

At 402, accessory device 107 can operate in a relay mode, where it can be connected to companion device 106, and its LTE stack can be disabled as described above with respect to FIG. 4. In some scenarios, the accessory device can be engaged in an active voice call. During a voice call, companion device 106 may be used as an intermediary for voice communication, such as Voice over LTE (VoLTE) communication exchanged between accessory device 107 and base station 102.

If the accessory device 107 determines to switch to operate in an autonomous mode in accordance with certain conditions as described above with respect to FIG. 4, then the accessory device can then perform 406, 408, 409, and 410. At 406, the accessory device may enable its LTE stack execution, obtain service with the base station, and register on the LTE network. In acquiring a service with a base station, the accessory device 107 can use the current base station information previously received from the companion device 106, as further discussed below with respect to FIG. 6. At 408, the accessory device can perform IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) registration. Thus, accessory device 107 can operate to enable direct communication with base station 102.

At 409, the call in progress may be transferred from companion device 106 to accessory device 107, which may now register with the base station and perform direct cellular communication without using the companion device. The companion device may stop relaying communication between the accessory device and the base station 102, and the accessory device may begin communicating directly with the base station to maintain the voice call.

After the accessory device 107 disconnected from the companion device 106 at 410 (as described above with respect to FIG. 5), the accessory device has switched to autonomous mode 422. Here, accessory device 107 may exchange frequent and / or periodic communications, such as VoLTE communications, with base station 102 to maintain a voice call. The LTE stack on the accessory device can be executed to handle voice communication with the base station.

To switch from operating in autonomous mode 422 to operating in relay mode 402 during an active voice call, the accessory device may establish (or reestablish) a connection with the companion device at 412. At 413, the accessory device can operate to forward the voice call to the companion device. The accessory device may stop communication directly with the base station and may begin using the companion device as a proxy to maintain the voice call. At 414 and 416, the accessory device may disable certain communication processes that may no longer be needed to process voice calls.

After accessory device 107 forwards the call to companion device 106, disables its LTE stack, and unregisters its IMS, the accessory device may operate in relay mode 402. The companion device may, for example, actively exchange communication with the base station 102 for an ongoing voice call.

6-Companion device communicates base station information to the accessory device.

6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method by which accessory device 107 can receive information from companion device 106 available by accessory device to more efficiently connect to base station 102.

At 602, one or more conditions exist (or occur) that can potentially cause the accessory device to switch from operating in relay mode to operating in autonomous mode, i.e., stopping using the companion device as a proxy for cellular communication. )can do. Such one or more conditions may include various conditions as described above with respect to 404. For example, if the companion device battery level is below a certain threshold, it may then be desirable to initiate a transition between operating in relay mode and operating in autonomous mode. Switching the accessory device to autonomous mode can avoid excessive burden on companion device 106 when operating on a low battery and also requires that companion device 106 to stop relaying communications due to power constraints, It can be avoided to interrupt the ongoing communication.

At 604, the companion device can transmit information regarding current cell coverage to the accessory device. Examples of current cell coverage information shared by the companion device may include one or more of a Serving Cell ID, Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), neighbor cells and their RSRP, and / or specific SIB information. Such information may be transmitted in response to one or more conditions as determined at 602, such as the companion device battery level being below a certain threshold. In some embodiments, the companion device can communicate information as part of the process, such that the accessory device switches from operating in relay mode to autonomous mode. For example, before disconnecting from the accessory device at 410, the companion device can transmit information regarding current cellular phone coverage to the accessory device.

In some embodiments, the companion device may transmit information about the current cellular phone coverage to the accessory device at frequent or periodic intervals. In these embodiments, the information may be sent automatically and / or periodically, rather than in response to one or more conditions as described above. This can be prepared for scenarios in which the link between the accessory device and the companion device fails unexpectedly, or for scenarios where the accessory device can no longer use the companion device as a proxy for cellular communication and can start communicating directly with the base station. Can be.

At 606, the accessory device may have received information regarding current cell coverage as communicated at 604. The accessory device can connect to the base station using the received information. Without this information, the process of establishing an initial connection with a base station can take more time on the accessory device and / or burden resources on it. For example, without this information, the accessory device may have to perform one or more processes to identify various setup information and communicate with the base station. Using information about the base station received from companion device 106, accessory device 107 can more efficiently initiate and / or establish a connection to the base station for use in subsequent direct communication with the base station.

Embodiments of the disclosure may be realized in any of a variety of forms. For example, some embodiments may be implemented as a computer implemented method, a computer readable memory medium, or a computer system. Other embodiments may be realized using one or more custom designed hardware devices such as ASICs. Still other embodiments may be realized using one or more programmable hardware elements, such as FPGAs.

In some embodiments, the non-transitory computer readable memory medium may be configured to store program instructions and / or data, where the program instructions, if executed by the computer system, cause the computer system to perform a method, eg, present. Any of the method embodiments described herein, or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or any subset of any of the method embodiments described herein, or such a subset To perform any combination of these.

In some embodiments, the device (eg, UE 106) can be configured to include a processor (or set of processors) and a memory medium, where the memory medium stores program instructions and the processor is from a memory medium. Configured to read and execute program instructions, the program instructions being a method, such as any of the various method embodiments described herein (or any combination of the method embodiments described herein, or herein And any subset of any of the method embodiments described in, or any combination of such subsets). The device can be realized in any of a variety of forms.

Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, once the above disclosure is fully appreciated, many variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The following claims are intended to be construed to cover all such changes and modifications.

Claims (25)

As an accessory device,
At least one antenna for performing wireless communication;
A first radio coupled to the at least one antenna, the first radio configured to perform cellular communication with a base station;
A second wireless communication device coupled to the at least one antenna, the second wireless communication device configured to perform short range communication with a companion device; And
One or more processors coupled to the first and second radios, wherein the one or more processors and the first and second radios are configured to perform wireless communication using the at least one antenna;
Including;
The one or more processors cause the accessory device to:
The first wireless communication device of the accessory device operates in a first mode configured to perform cellular communication with a base station;
The second wireless communication device of the accessory device operates in a second mode configured to perform short range communication with the companion device, wherein the accessory device uses cellular functionality of the companion device to communicate with the companion device Provide to the base station;
Selectively switch between the first mode and the second mode based on one or more factors, wherein the one or more factors include an amount of remaining battery power of the accessory device.
And an accessory device. The method of claim 1,
And the at least one factor comprises a signal strength of the short range communication between the accessory device and the companion device. The method of claim 1,
And the at least one factor comprises residual battery power of the companion device. The method of claim 1,
And the at least one factor comprises a cellular communication state of the companion device. The method of claim 1,
The at least one factor comprises a cellular communication state of the accessory device. The method of claim 1,
An active voice call is currently being performed by either the accessory device or the companion device;
The accessory device is configured to divert the active voice call to or from the companion device during the transition between the first mode and the second mode. The method of claim 1,
The accessory device is a smart watch. The method of claim 1,
The short range communication comprises Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE). A method for operating an accessory device,
By the accessory device:
Operating in a first mode, wherein the one or more processors are configured to perform direct cellular communication with the base station using the first wireless communication device; And
Selectively and automatically switching from said first mode to a second mode based on one or more factors
Wherein the one or more factors include an amount of remaining battery power of the accessory device, and wherein, in the second mode, the second wireless communication device of the accessory device is configured to perform short range communication with a companion device; An accessory device is configured to provide cellular communication via the companion device to the base station using the cellular functionality of the companion device. The method of claim 9,
An active voice call is currently being performed by either the accessory device or the companion device;
The accessory device is configured to divert the active voice call to or from the companion device during the transition between the first mode and the second mode. The method of claim 9,
Wherein said at least one factor comprises signal strength. The method of claim 9,
The one or more factors include residual battery power of the companion device. The method of claim 9,
The one or more factors include a cellular communication state of the companion device. The method of claim 9,
The one or more factors include a cellular communication state of the accessory device. The method of claim 9,
And the accessory device is a smart watch. The method of claim 9,
The short-range communication comprises Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE). An apparatus for operating an accessory device,
Includes processing elements,
The processing element causes the accessory device to:
The accessory device operates in a first mode configured to perform cellular communication directly with a base station using the first wireless communication device of the accessory device;
To selectively and automatically switch from said first mode to a second mode based on one or more factors.
Wherein the one or more factors include an amount of remaining battery power of the accessory device, and wherein, in the second mode, the second wireless communication device of the accessory device is configured to perform short range communication with a companion device; And an accessory device is configured to provide cellular communication via the companion device to the base station using the cellular functionality of the companion device. The method of claim 17,
And the companion device is a smartphone. The method of claim 17,
An active voice call is currently being performed by either the accessory device or the companion device;
And the accessory device is configured to divert the active voice call to or from the companion device during the transition between the first mode and the second mode. The method of claim 17,
Wherein said at least one factor comprises signal strength. The method of claim 17,
And the one or more factors include remaining battery power of the companion device. The method of claim 17,
And the at least one factor comprises a cellular communication state of the companion device. The method of claim 17,
And the one or more factors include a cellular communication state of the accessory device. The method of claim 17,
And the accessory device is a smart watch. The method of claim 17,
Wherein the short range communication comprises Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE).

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